Walk Me Down the Middle
by WritingWings
Summary: Ranger and Stephanie are in a secret relationship, but Steph is getting tired of the secrecy. She wants everyone to know. Babe, but Morelli-friendly. Please read!


This is inspired by The Band Perry song "Walk Me Down the Middle." I don't know why I thought this related to Steph and Ranger, but I did, so there you go.

Ranger would likely never do this, and if he did, he would never do it like this. If that makes this AU, so be it. But I would like to see Ranger and Steph in a relationship.

All constructive feedback is welcome.

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"Walk me down the middle of Main Street. Walk me down where the whole town will be. I don't need no parade, but make sure that she sees. Let the whole world know you belong to me." ~Walk Me Down the Middle, The Band Perry

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Ranger and I had been dating for five months. We were taking things slowly because both of us were appropriately wary when it came to relationships. Our first experiences at both had not been happy. And we were keeping it quiet. The Merry Men knew. My dad knew. Connie and Lula knew, but we had sworn them to secrecy and Ranger backed it up with threats of what he would do if this leaked before we wanted it known. Nobody else knew.

We tried to keep things low-key in public, especially if Ranger was helping with one of my FTAs or I was doing a distraction for Ranger. It was so hard. We had a certain amount of physical contact before we became a couple. Ranger would always give me a quick good luck kiss before a distraction job and he still did. But it hard was for it to just be a quick, chaste kiss that friends, not lovers, give.

But I was getting tired of the secrecy, especially since Morelli didn't seem to get that we were permanently off. He still came around and tried to win me back into his life and his bed. I wasn't falling for it, needless to say. Ranger had always had my back before, and he still did, but he had to play the role of concerned friend, not jealous boyfriend. Meaning I mostly had to deal with Morelli on my own. And my mother. Don't even get me started on my mother. Like Joe, she could not believe that Morelli and I were done. Finished. Over. It was starting to be really annoying because she continued to contrive ways to put us in the same room. At the same time. Usually the dining room at six o'clock over pot roast. I couldn't bring Ranger to protect me because that would lead to lots of explaining (which I was so not ready to do yet) so I firmly closed the door on Morelli's advances and snuck out the back door, typically before dessert. (I know, it's shocking that I would hate my mother's meddling so much to skip dessert, but I did.)

Finally, I told Ranger I was tired of the secrecy and I wanted everyone to know that we were a couple and we were serious. I wanted Morelli and my mother off my back. Ranger's wolf grin appeared and for a moment, I wished I'd never said anything. But the plan we masterminded was genius and bad Stephanie loved it.

Every year, Rangeman hosted a gala close at the end of December to celebrate the New Year and another successful year of business and hopefully, another one to come. It was a swanky event and all of Rangeman's clients were invited along with guests of employees. This year's event was approaching and that was when Ranger and I decided to go public. Of course, all the usual guests were invited. We invited some of the Trenton PD, because the guys crossed paths with them every now and then and this could be an opportunity to build stronger working ties. Mainly, we didn't want Morelli to suspect anything if he was the only cop invited. I invited my parents and Grandma and my sister and her husband. Thankfully, they all accepted. I mentally rubbed my hands and cackled with wicked pleasure.

I bought a new dress for the event and, believe it or not, Ranger actually went shopping with me! The dress was beautiful. Floor-length and strapless, the royal blue fabric flowed perfectly around me and made my blue eyes pop. Ranger was speechless when I came out of the dressing room in it. Ella did my hair for the event. Honestly, is there anything that woman can't do? And I painted my nails with a neutral pearly-hued polish to not distract from my dress.

As I got ready for the party, I couldn't help but feel a little like a princess with my very own knight in shining armor. When I walked into the ballroom on Ranger's arm, I was fairly certain I was the luckiest woman on the entire planet.

As the evening wore on, I felt more and more anxious. Not because I didn't want to go through with The Plan; I had never wanted anything more. But I wanted to go ahead and do it, so Ranger and I could spend the rest of the night acting like the couple we were.

At last, it was time for Ranger's speech. He made a similar one every year, thanking the employees for their hard work and dedication, the clients for their business and faith in the company. When he got up on the stage tonight, though, I knew this year's speech would be different.

Ranger began like he did every year, thanking the employees and Rangeman's clients. "But there is one other person here tonight that I would like to thank. And I would like for her to join me onstage, please. She is a key part of our team at Rangeman and she's turned most of our lives upside down, but in a good way. She's part of our family. Miss Stephanie Plum."

I stepped up on the stage. I'm pretty sure I was blushing. Ranger reached out his hand and I took it and he drew me in for a kiss. I heard the crowd gasp with some claps and whistles thrown in as Ranger's lips met mine.

"I met Stephanie three years ago," Ranger said, when we were done kissing. "I was the one who trained her to be a bounty hunter. Honestly, I didn't think she would last, but she proved me wrong countless times, simply by her stubbornness, determination, and tenacity."

I was touched by Ranger's words, but slightly confused. I didn't think he was going to talk about me quite so much.

"As I got to know her, I realized I cared about her more than I was willing to admit, even to myself. After a long time, I realized I loved her. And that she loved me too."

I had tears in my eyes as Ranger's tender words and I could see the truth of it in his chocolate brown eyes.

"It might seem sudden since we've only been dating a few months, but I have one question for you, Steph."

My heart started to leap around my chest as the pieces fell into place. Ranger bent down on one knee and I heard everyone gasp again. My hand flew to my mouth as he produced an elegant diamond ring.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, will you marry me?"

A million emotions flashed through my heart in the split second between his question and my answer. The first was fear. I had been married once and it was a disaster. Now, I practically broke out if anyone even mentioned marriage in my presence. The second was shock. Ranger was nearly as vocal as I was about marriage. This was not what we had planned! The third was joy. Ranger wanted to marry me! Ranger wanted to marry me! We had talked marriage a little, and we had agreed that maybe one day, we would. But we liked where we were now, so there was no need to rush. Now, Ranger was offering me everything I thought I didn't want and could never have. Yet, I wanted it. I wanted it all. With Ranger.

"Yes!" I cried. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"

Ranger stood and slid the ring on my left hand while I brushed away tears with my right. Then we embraced and he kissed me the way a husband kisses his wife and everyone clapped and cheered. Ranger led me off the stage and everyone resumed mingling.

Lula and Connie met us at the bottom of the steps and hugged me, saying they were so happy for me. I hugged them right back. Lula threatened to put a cap in Ranger if he ever hurt me. He simply smiled his megawatt smile and said she'd have to wait in line because his men would take him to the mats first. Dad was next and he said he was so happy for us and it was about time. Grandma said she was glad I chose Ranger over Joe and she wanted a great-grandchild from us before she died. Valerie and Albert added their congratulations as did the Merry Men and several others.

Finally, we came to Morelli and my mother. Morelli spoke first.

"Steph, you mean all this time I was trying to win you back, you were with Ranger?"

I took a deep breath. Time to face the music. "Yes, Joe. We wanted to wait to go public with our relationship, so I had to keep it a secret from you."

Joe sighed. "I wish you'd told me. I would have stopped chasing you if I'd known. As it is, I'm going to miss you, Steph. And you," he turned to Ranger, "if you hurt her, you'll bring the entire Trenton PD down on you."

Ranger full-on smiled again and said if there was anything left of him after his men and Lula, not to mention my dad, got ahold of him, Trenton's Finest were welcome to it.

Joe hugged me and shook hands with Ranger, then left us to enjoy the rest of the party. My mother was not quite so understanding.

"Stephanie, how could you do such a thing?" she cried. "First, you dump Joseph and refuse to take him back. Now, I find you've been secretly dating Ranger for months and you're going to marry him?! Why me? Why couldn't you marry a nice doctor or a businessman?" I could see Mom was about to go off the deep end, so I intervened.

"Mom? Mom? Listen to me. Joe and I weren't going to work, okay? We were over long before the relationship was. I love Ranger very much and he loves me. We are getting married and I want you to be happy for us. Can you at least try please?"

Mom looked at me and sighed. "Yes, Stephanie. I can try."

"Thank you."

Ranger and I spent the rest of the night, side by side, hand in hand. We fielded many more compliments and congratulations on our engagement. I was thoroughly exhausted by the time we returned to our apartment on seven.

I closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a deep sigh. "Who knew getting engaged could be so exhausting?"

Ranger grinned as he pulled his tie off. "It was worth it though, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yes. Completely worth it," I said as I studied my ring again. "When did you decide to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Propose tonight. Did you plan it all along or was it just a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing?"

"I had the ring months before we started dating. Your plan to go public just gave me the perfect opportunity," Ranger wrapped his arms around me.

"What if I had said no?" I asked, my eyes sparkling.

"If I had any doubt that you would say no, I wouldn't have asked."

I thought again that I was the luckiest woman on the whole planet. "I love you, Ranger."

"I love you, too, Babe."


End file.
